


Endless Night

by troiaofacid



Series: ZoSan Family AU [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Abduction, Angst, Angst and Romance, Angst and Tragedy, Angst angst angst angst, Blood and Violence, Boarding the rollercoaster of angst guys, Bottom Vinsmoke Sanji, Caring Roronoa Zoro, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, ITS A TINY BIT REALLY, Implied Mpreg, M/M, Mpreg Sanji, Mugiwara no Ichimi | Straw Hat Pirates, Top Roronoa Zoro, after timeskip, but he good, not really fine, sanji is fine guys, slight lusan, train of feelings yeehaw, will have more tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-12
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:53:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23115775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/troiaofacid/pseuds/troiaofacid
Summary: Train of angst, feelings and rollercoaster of endless bad dreams. Strawhat pirates were defeated by a certain group of enemies, and Sanji suffers the most.
Relationships: Roronoa Zoro/Vinsmoke Sanji
Series: ZoSan Family AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1778092
Comments: 20
Kudos: 112





	1. How it began.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first zosan fanfic! although it may be not that good but do have fun reading it.
> 
> Stay alive!
> 
> 08/04 - edited some parts!!

Crouching as he holds his tears with his cigarette between his lips, Sanji Vinsmoke is all alone. The wounds he got a few days ago opened and blood seeped through the bandages. He can feel his right leg starting to swell but he couldn't care about it as his mind is filled with his crew members. Their ship was thrown to this island, right in front of their eyes. All of them, not even Chopper can manage to run in time to prevent it. Their enemies laughed, Sanji remembered all of his friends were left devastated. Both Luffy and Zoro reacted as they attacked the enemy but in a second they vanished. 

Sanji's head may be wounded but his eyes still remember everything, how none of their attacks works. None. 

Now, the golden-haired man stands up and starts to drag his legs into the forest. Trying to look for his friends and his lover. Desperately he calls out his friends name and one name he shouted on top of his lungs. But, then he fell on the soft ground that felt like a hard rock to his body. He realized, he can't do anything. His eyes wander around with blurry vision now and he knows that he can't do it. He closed his eyes. Saying goodbye to the dark sky, who knows for how long, temporarily sleeping or sleeping without waking up.

一

The grey-blue eyes slowly let the sun hit pupils and made the owner wince at the sudden light. Sanji grunted as he felt pain from his abdomen, “Are you awake?” A pair of eyes are staring at him from someone who is crouching in front of him. 

One look from the sandals Sanji knows it’s Luffy, “Yeah I am, Luffy, how did you find me?” “That enemy of ours... threw me to the east and maybe Zoro to the west? Or is it north? Well, you know that I have no sense of direction but at least I remember my crew’s scents which is how I found you,” he smiled widely with bandages on his head. 

It's quite a laughable scene although the blond managed to curl his lips into a smile instead of letting out a laugh due to the pain in his abdomen part. 

“Nami and Robin found us this morning and Robin said it's better to not move you because of that wound on your abdomen and I've been in this same position since the two of them left to seek some food," Luffy said as if answering Sanji's silent question. 

"Help me get up then," Luffy, without getting orders twice he stretched his arms to lift the other gently. 

Sanji leaned against Luffy's shoulder while sitting, it's even a pain for the curled eyebrows to sit down without giving pressure to his abdomen part. With one of his arms around Luffy's shoulder, the two of them stood up and walked to rest under the shade. 

“What are we going to do now? Wait?” 

The straw hat laughed and soon his lips turned into a smile, “As if! I’m not making everyone wait but I’m sure they can wait until you are fully healed,”

“You shouldn’t make everyone wait because of me, Luffy, we have a skeleton walking around the island, a swordsman without a sense of direction, a deer, a Pinocchio look-alike, a man with two guns on his shoulders, and well lastly a Fishman” 

“Sanji... stop worrying about others! True they may be wounded as well but they weren’t the one who got a sword across their stomach, are they? Nami and Robin will be back soon and you are going to rest until you fully recover.” 

Without waiting for Sanji's answer the rubber man just walked a few steps away from Sanji, maybe trying to calm himself? Sanji has no idea. 

Soon enough Nami and Robin come back with some fruits, enough for the four of them that is. True, now that Sanji can properly see both Nami and Robin’s wounds are mostly cuts on their arms and legs or Luffy’s wounds which are a cut across his right arm and bruises mostly. 

Sanji’s hand slowly moved to his stomach, the pain already subsided but the blood barely stopped. Robin changed the bandages and told Sanji to rest but the golden-haired man couldn’t just rest. He tried closing his eyes back and forth only to open them again because of the noisy winds, not that he hates the winds he just wants it to calm down a bit. A sigh has escaped through Sanji’s lips slowly before he looks up to meet the stars, again.

The stars, as usual, are playing with each other without any noise nor movement, it seems they play with each other by talking and staring. Under those stars and accompanied with the noisy winds, Sanji tried to sleep, again, and this time he succeeded. 

一

The sun showed itself making the golden-haired male wake up and meet with another day of his life. From his side he can see Robin who is cooking, it seems she woke up way earlier than him. “What are you making, Robin?” 

The dark-haired lady turned her head to Sanji for a few seconds before continuing to cook. “A soup,” She paused for a moment to put in the last ingredient into the soup, “and I was lucky to find a chicken look-alike nearby and some potatoes as well,” She answered loud enough for Sanji to hear but quiet enough to not wake Nami and Luffy up. 

Sanji slowly walked to Robin and sat beside the older woman, “I wonder if the others are fine,” he said softly.

“They won’t get killed easily, don’t you think?” Robin chuckled, “Besides, they are strong enough and a simple throw to the ground won’t defeat them,”

Sanji acknowledged the statement his crewmate said. What Robin said is not wrong, not even a bit, all of the straw hat pirates are strong and they won’t die easily. If they die that easy… it would make fun of their own high bounties, isn’t?

“Here, it will taste like coconut but I hope you don’t mind because we don’t have any kitchen wares here,” said Robin as she hands the soup in a container that looks like… coconut...shell? 

Accepting the food that is given Sanji replied joyfully, “The fact that you found a huge coconut to boil those ingredients- well I’m going to enjoy this, thank you Robin-cwan~” 

Robin chuckled, “Seems you’re getting back to your usual self, Mr.Cook” the older woman sat down beside the blond watching him eat,

“Of course~” He didn’t say anything furthermore and just ate the soup Robin cooked. It tasted fine as he hasn't eaten anything for a few days. The warmth of the soup fills the empty spaces in his stomach, “It tasted good Robin-chan!” he said with a cheerful tone in his voice. The older woman kept a smile on her face as she took away an empty coconut shell from Sanji’s hand. 

“Go take a rest now, wouldn’t want your wound to open again, would you?” She asked with her usual slow and calming voice. Sanji complied and leaned on a tree nearby, “Wake me up if anything happens,”

一

_ Something, something is wrapped around my neck. I can’t breathe.  _

_ “What is this thing you brought back to our ship boss?” _

_ I can hear and I can’t recognize whose voice it was. _

_ “Useful item. I heard he is… something important to our enemy, Roronoa” _

_ Why are they mentioning that marimo’s name? I have zero relationships with that moss head! _

_ “The cook? Of course, he is important, without this pretty haired guy they won’t be able to eat, haha!” _

_ Wrong. Nami-san, Robin-chan and Usopp can cook as well.  _

_ “A cook? Then his hands are important, eh?”  _

_ My what-? _

_ “Are you thinking of doing what I’m thinking boss?” _

_ I can feel something’s heat beside my tied hands, it’s not someone’s hand nor other parts of the body. It’s a similar heat when I cook… no... maybe a bit hotter… _

_ “Shall we then?” _

_ I can feel immediate pain and burn on my palm. Melting the skin as if it’s butter. I grunted as I bite into what covering my mouth with the energy left in my body I tried to move- _

_ “It seems he is awake? Did the drug run off or something?” _

_ My hands- They’re burning it with something… an unfinished weapon? What is that sound of metal clanking? A forge? What are they- _

_ “Make him unconscious.” _

_ Something hit me before I could feel anything more. _

_ “Give him anaesthetic, wouldn’t want this guy to wake up during our  _ **_playtime_ ** _ right, my boys?” _

_ I faintly hear another sentence, _

_ “Let’s cut his fingers, boss!” _

一

Sanji jolted and fell to the ground due to the imbalance he has. With all sweats on his face, clearly he had a bad dream, “Are you okay, Sanji?” Still breathing heavily Sanji looked up to see who was talking. 

“Usopp? When did you find us?” 

“More likely you guys found me and Franky, Luffy carried you with the help of Robin’s hands. Are you okay? Do you need anything? Maybe something to drink or eat?” Usopp’s voice disintegrates in Sanji’s mind, the grey-blue eyed cook looked down to see that his hands are indeed covered in bandages. 

“I changed the bandages on your abdomen earlier, also you looked like you were chased by something.” Nami is leaning on a tree that is not too far from where Sanji sat. The orange-haired female handed Sanji a drink, “Franky fell close to the supplies we had in Thousand Sunny. Don’t worry about food or anything, we can manage it, Sanji”

He took the drink Nami offered and asked, “What exactly happened to me? To us?” The brown-eyed lady shook her head, indicating that she doesn’t know as well. “I had a dream that my hands were… hurting badly because of… something,” he whispered. 

Usopp peeked at Nami before glancing back at Sanji, “Did you forget what happened before we got thrown by the enemies?” 

Sanji looked to both of them, innocently, without any burden in his tongue he answered, “No, barely, I can only remember Luffy and Zoro vanished first after Thousand Sunny got thrown away” 

“That’s good then you don’t need to remember all of those things, they are not useful, also, Luffy, Robin and Franky were looking for others. I forgot to tell you that.” Nami tied her hair and took a seat beside the campfire. 

Sanji may be dense at times but right now Nami’s eyes look like they are filled with a great amount of sorrow and sadness. But what does she mean by  _ That’s good _ ? 


	2. Hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I hope you guys are enjoying reading this!

At the same time, in the deep forest. “Hey Luffy,” Franky crossed his arms as he followed both Luffy and Robin to look for the others.   
  


“What is it, Franky?” Luffy answered with his eyes busy scanning the area.  
  


“Are you sure that it’s fine to not tell Sanji what happened?” The captain stayed quiet for a while leaving the sounds leaves grazing the ground surrounding them.  
  


“It’s fine, We need to find Chopper first before we can tell him about it. Even if we agreed to tell him about it, I think… Zoro is the one who needs to tell Sanji about it, you see?”   
  


Robin who's been keeping quiet since a few minutes ago turned to Franky, “Cook-san would feel guilty for what happened with him… don’t you think? Being the hostage and losing what’s been living inside him,”   
  


Robin paused before continuing after another minute lost in deep thought, “I think Luffy is right, we need to find Chopper to check Sanji’s wounds and then when we find Zoro we will talk about it with him before telling Cook-san,” she ended her sentence firmly.   
  


Franky didn’t reply, the cyborg man genuinely is worried about Sanji but he can’t do much after Luffy stated his decision. After over an hour looking for other crew members, Franky discovered an unconscious body from afar.   
  


“Oi oi- isn’t that Chopper?” The other two immediately turned to see what Franky is pointing at and everyone knows who owns the familiar blue cap that has a ring of dots around the circle… It is Chopper.  
  


“Chopper!” all of them called out his name as they approached the unconscious reindeer and looked at each other for a while before Luffy decided to carry Chopper back to the camp himself.   
  


Robin and Franky glanced at each other for a moment after letting out a relieved sigh. The two look around the area for the last time before following Luffy back to the camp.   
  


Thankfully, Chopper didn’t get serious wounds on his body but scratches and bruises. Nami quickly treated him with Sanji’s help and laid the youngest crew member on the ground softly and as comfortably as Nami could.   
  


“How is he?” Sanji asked with a cigarette between his lips.  
  


Nami sat down right beside Chopper, “He is fine, nothing bad, you are the one who got serious wounds, Sanji” she eyed at Sanji’s abdomen. 

“Your injuries are way worse than ours, and you still look pale, you know that?”  
  


Sanji took a long drag before exhaling and answering Nami’s question, “I will be fine after a few days, Nami-san”   
  


“Sleep, you need to rest to heal faster.” She said firmly with her eyes locked on Chopper who is sleeping soundly.  
  


“Roger that, Nami-swan” Sanji answered with his usual excited voice.  
  


An hour has already passed after Sanji and Chopper fell asleep. Not with the others though, they sat surrounding the campfire.   
  


Usopp began their talk as quietly as possible, “What is the plan? We can’t keep quiet about it.”   
  


His voice trembled out of fear but he tried to continue his statement calmly, “Remember what Chopper said if anything bad happened to Sanji? As soon as possible the fetus… needs to be removed from his body because the longer it stays in there… the more harm can be done to Sanji.”  
  


“It’s still unconfirmed whether the baby is alive or not, Usopp, don’t say it like you’ve lost hope for-” Nami found herself can’t continue her words, she looked down, biting her bottom lip to hold her tears from falling.  
  


Usopp looked away from Nami, she is correct, but, “We all witnessed how that sword slashed his abdomen and how he got thrown to our side with that brute force.”   
  


After resting his chin on his hand Usopp continued, “What is the chance of the baby staying alive? I hate to say this, I really hate to state this, but all of you know the possibility is low, don’t you?”   
  


Franky didn’t answer, he’s sobbing silently. Nami’s tears already fell two minutes ago. Robin stayed calm and analyzed the situation in her mind.  
  


“Chopper still needs to check on Sanji as soon as possible, we will let him decide,” Luffy sighed deeply. “I believe the only one who can tell Sanji about it properly is Zoro, he knows how to handle Sanji’s reaction and now we can only hope for the best for Jjom.”   
  


He paused for a moment and patted each of them on the shoulders, “Now rest, I will take the first turn.”   
  


How can Luffy be that strong? It’s painful for all of them to know that their newest crew member may not survive yet here their captain is standing strong without showing his sad emotions.  
  


After that talk, surrounded by the quiet winds all of them but Luffy fell asleep.   
  


The captain of Straw Hat pirates sat by the campfire, “I do hope Jjom is safe...but...but that slash wound…” Luffy muttered, his voice trembling as his mind thought what he feared the most.

“Zoro, I hope we can find you soon, we can’t comfort him as much as you do…” LIke that he silently wished under the dark sky and bright stars. Hoping one of the twinkling lights can make his wish come true but that’s just a child’s mythological stories and it’s fine to believe such a thing during this time, is it not?  
  


一  
  


Under the same moonlight, stars and dark sky deep in the forest, a green-haired man can be seen trying to clear his mind calmly. The man didn’t bother to treat his wounds, he focused on meditating to distract himself from the problem he is in.  
  


He inhaled and exhaled slowly, each breath he exhaled he could feel his physical pain go away but not with his emotional pain.   
  


Zoro’s mind would play the horrific scene he witnessed repeatedly, showing his lover being slashed in front of him and then thrown with full force.   
  


Zoro gasped as he opened his right eye to come back to reality and that he was in an unknown forest alone, he grunted and hit the ground, “I’m sorry, Sanji, I couldn’t protect you… and Jjom.”   
  


The swordsman muttered slowly, “I’m sorry that I couldn’t protect your happiness, once again, I failed, Sanji…”   
  


He sobbed between his words, “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect your smile…”  
  


Zoro grieved but he knows he has to face it and there is no escape from the problem.   
  


A few minutes passed and the green-haired man leaned on a tree after calming himself down, “I hope you are okay, Sanji. I hope the others are fine too…” he closed his right eye and focused himself on meditating again.   
  


No one knows what will be the outcome of this, no one, not even Zoro. He doesn’t have any idea whether his baby would survive those attacks. Just like that, another night passed with the winds loudly announcing its arrival.   
  


Under the lively dancing stars, Zoro had fallen asleep whilst wishing silently for the safety of his lover, baby and friends.  
  


A few hours had passed but it felt like a few minutes for the chestnut eyed male. He opened his right eye, took a deep breath and stood up to stretch himself. The green-haired male decided to take a walk and look for food, but after ten minutes he found a quite pleasant surprise.  
  


Zoro was eating a fruit on a tree when he heard familiar happy toned voices, “That sounds like Nami…” he muttered to himself.   
  


The green-haired male quickly jumped down and moved past bushes. He heard the voices gasped in shock but he doesn’t know the reason. He took another step and he heard Nami’s scream.  
  


一  
  


“What was that?! Brook, what was that?!” The orange-haired lady slowly moved behind Brook and gripped his clothes, “Did you guys hear that?! Something moved!”  
  


Usopp took a deep breath and put his hands together as he closed his eyes he mumbled, “Gracious lord… please help us and don’t let us die today. We just found Brook earlier so please don’t take us unless we found all of our friends,”   
  


Brook is unfazed, he laughed with his usual calm and gleeful voice, “Yohoho! The chills pierced through my skin, yohoho!” he paused only to hit his head weakly and mumbled out, “but I don’t have any skin for I am a skeleton, yohoho!”  
  


Visibly annoyed, Nami smacked Brook’s back and yelled, “Stop with that joke! What if it was the enemy?! Or… this island special monster or something?!”  
  


“Lord gracious! Don’t let us die today!” Usopp fell to his knees as he tightly held his hands together.  
  


All three of them heard another rustle and a deep sigh, “Do you guys really think I’m a kind of monster like our enemies?”   
  


Nami shrieked. Brook yelped. Usopp screamed.  
  


They looked at each other and exclaimed, “A talking moss-head!”  
  


For a few minutes they looked at each other and they quietly turned their heads to see what or who was talking to them.  
  
  


It was Zoro.  
  
  


“Oh it was just Zoro,” Nami sighed.  
  


Zoro shouted with annoyance in his tone, “Don’t say it’s just me when you guys panicking thinking I’m some kind of monster!”  
  


The green-haired male toned down his voice and asked, “Why are you guys out here anyway? Looking for food?”  
  


“Yeah, we accidentally found Brook who scared us by staring intently at us from a tree,” Usopp chuckled, “but then he had to say his iconic _‘May I see your panties?’_ and Nami threw a rock at him”  
  


“It was painful to my flesh! But I don’t have flesh for I am a skeleton!” The afro haired skeleton laughed loudly before he received another smack from Nami.   
  


Zoro grinned, “Well, I’ll go with you guys then, come on. I have only eaten one fruit and it’s not enough.”  
  


一  
  


Everyone in the camp could hear Nami’s scream and they stood up simultaneously, “What was that?”   
  


“It was Nami-san’s voice, right?”   
  


“Do we have to chase after them?” asked Franky to Luffy who quickly sat back down soon after he realized whose voice it was.  
  


Robin stated “No, they will be fine,” She smiled to Franky, “It’s Nami and Usopp, we don’t need to worry that much, right?”   
  


Luffy nodded agreeing to Robin’s statement.  
  


Chopper who has been sleeping soundly grimaced and opened his eyes. The reindeer groaned as his brain tried to process all of his memories, “Ow… where- what-...” he looked around and found his friends looking at him with their shocked faces. Chopper turned to his side and found Sanji beside him.  
  


“How are you feeling?” the cook asked worriedly.  
  


“I’m fine, Sanji… How did you guys find me?”  
  


Sanji pointed at Luffy, Robin and Franky before looking back at Chopper, “They found you unconscious far from our camp. There are also Nami and Usopp but they are looking for food now.”  
  


Chopper nodded understanding what Sanji said. His eyes quickly went from looking around to focus on the cigarette Sanji is holding, “Why are you smoking? Didn’t I tell you that you can’t smoke?”  
  


Sanji frowned, his eyes obviously emitting a silent “ _Why not_ ?’ to Chopper but he decided to voice it out, “Why can’t I smoke? I’ve been smoking for the last three days, Chopper…”  
  


The reindeer gasped and quickly snatched the cigarette from Sanji, “What the- Chopper?!”   
  


Chopper turned to Sanji, “It’s bad for your health and-”  
  


From behind Sanji a couple of footsteps can be heard before a pair of strong tanned hands covered Sanji’s eyes and ears. By the scent of the clothes, Sanji knows it’s Zoro.   
  


The moss-head silently signalled everyone to move away from them a bit. With Chopper carried by Luffy, they complied and moved a few meters from the pair of lovers.  
  


“Marimo?”  
  


“Yeah, it’s me,” He slowly let go of his grip and moved to sit down in front of Sanji.  
  


“Where have you been? Why do you look so depressed? Have you eaten? Did you sleep well? I missed you.” For a moment Sanji didn’t think of what happened to him, his concern about Zoro pours out automatically.  
  


Zoro pulled his lover into a hug not answering the questions. They shared each other’s warmth before pulling back, “Why are you crying for? I didn’t die, curly eyebrows”  
  


“For fuck sake, I was worried about you, dumbass marimo.”  
  


Zoro laughed and wiped his partner’s tears away, “How are your wounds?” Sanji obviously hesitated to answer, “Your eyebrows twitched for a second when you want to lie, Cook, answer me honestly,” Zoro added.  
  


“It’s not good, okay? I had nightmares and my stomach feels weird. I lost a lot of blood but sadly I can’t stitch my own wounds,” Sanji answered, eyes locked with Zoro’s and it yells out honesty for Zoro.  
  


“My turn to ask a question,” Sanji cocked one of his eyebrows, “Why did you cover my eyes and ears when Chopper wanted to answer my question? I know you are not the type to play such pranks.”  
  


Zoro’s right eye widened and softened the second after. He stayed quiet for a moment, thinking about how to approach the topic.   
  


He heard the others plan about telling Jjom to Sanji from Usopp and Nami. They told them it had to be him to tell Sanji about it. Zoro himself knows that his baby chance of being alive is probably low.  
  


After a few minutes, he exhaled deeply, “A few weeks ago, far before today, you gave me one of the best presents.”  
  


“A present? What is it?”  
  


“It’s here, and I hope it is still there with you,” Zoro said as his hand slightly made contact with Sanji's abdomen part.  
  


Zoro’s focus moved back to Sanji who visibly is trying to process what the moss-head is saying. The green-haired male didn’t continue, he waited for Sanji patiently.  
  


Memories flooded into Sanji’s mind. Now he remembered that he is carrying a life in his body. He remembered Chopper telling him about the results of his tests. He remembered Zoro’s reaction. He remembered those painfully beautiful memories.   
  


Sanji’s hands gripped Zoro’s clothes, his eyes slowly filled with tears and his lips trembled slightly as his brain played the memories when he got his wounds, “You are not joking right? I got slashed on my abdomen, you know that right?”  
  


Zoro nodded silently.  
  


“Are they safe? Did I ki-”  
  


“Don’t, don’t say it. You can’t be so sure yet, Sanji.”  
  


“But-”  
  


The green-haired male pulled Sanji into another hug,“Let Chopper do his work, yeah? Let him treat your wounds and check up on you, okay? I know it’s hard on you, but we can go through this, together, what do you think?” he muttered as he rubbed soothing circles on Sanji’s back.  
  


The blond didn’t answer, he cried on Zoro’s shoulder. The happy memories when he and Zoro talked about Jjom, their baby, it all played together with his memory where he had to receive that damned attack on his abdomen.  
  
Sanji regretted all of his actions that resulted in hurting himself. 

He should have been more careful, he should have protected his baby better. Now that he knows, Sanji wants a chance to fix all of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> I had a hard time writing Brook's reactions hehe but well I managed it after thinking for a while.
> 
> Tell me what you think in the comment section! I would be more than happy to read what you guys thought about this chapter ^^


	3. Another Nightmare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw// violence and blood, abuse, pregnancy.

It has been a full twenty minutes since Zoro told Sanji about Jjom. The blond is still crying against Zoro’s shoulder with his arms wrapped around his lover’s neck. 

For the others, it’s painful to watch Sanji break down like that. The other crew members know what their Nakama went through, they know what happened to Sanji and they regret that they couldn’t protect him. 

Sanji’s loud weeping and his constant coughing between his cries. Everyone can hear his desperation, his regret, him begging Zoro to turn back the time. It’s hard for them to see Sanji like this. 

Brook looked away from them, he tried to not cry, but his tears ended up falling one by one. 

Nami is crying in Robin’s arms, the older woman’s eyes are slowly getting red, she closes her eyes as she lets the tears roll down to her cheeks and tightens her arms around Nami’s body.

Franky is sobbing along with Usopp. Chopper covered his face as he shed his tears.

Luffy lowered his hat, he couldn’t stand it. Luffy is angry that he can’t beat the enemies, that he can’t protect his own Nakama, he hates to see Sanji breaking down like that.

He felt worthless, he felt like a useless captain that can’t even protect his Nakama. Slowly Luffy’s tears escaped his eyes and his emotions engulfed him. 

He felt as worthless as he was 2 years ago, he couldn’t protect his Nakama-

Robin silently pulled Luffy close to her and covered his eyes using her power, “Don’t blame yourself, Luffy…” She muttered in a hushed tone. Luffy leaned on Robin’s arm and his tears flooded down to his cheeks. 

Zoro’s eye is filled with pain, his heart filled with guilt, his guts tied into the tightest knot, his feelings mixed resulting in one aberrant feeling. Anger, sadness, and regret, all becoming one. 

He should have been able to protect his loved ones. 

He should have been able to prevent that slash hurting Sanji. 

He should have been there with Sanji before the enemies took him as a hostage.

Zoro can feel tears start to collect themselves and make a nest in his eyelashes and making it difficult for him to see slowly. When the memory where Sanji got hurt flashed again, Zoro’s tear rolled down to his cheek without a warning.

The swordsman's hands hold his lover closer, tighter without giving too much pressure on Sanji’s wounded part. 

“I’m sorry…” he whispered into Sanji’s ear. The blond cried even louder, he couldn't stop, he hated the fact that he had short term memory loss that caused him to forget most of the things that happened to him after meeting those enemies.

His pregnancy, how he got his wounds, and what? Maybe he got more things that he forgot. Sanji doesn’t know and he can’t remember.

“We will be fine, we can go through this together,” The moss-head murmured against Sanji’s hair, his deep-calming toned voice sounds comforting to Sanji’s ears. Zoro repeated the sentence over and over again to calm his lover down.

Sanji slowly lowered his voice, his coughs turned into small coughs and his cry turned into sniffles. After a few minutes, Sanji passed out, tired from all things that kept his mind busy, tired from crying and screaming his lungs out. 

Zoro sighed as he caressed his lover’s hair, “Sleep well, Sanji” he pressed a light kiss on the blond’s forehead.

一

Chopper sat by Sanji’s side the whole time ever since after Sanji passed out. His hooves pressed lightly against Sanji’s arm with the eyes full of worry he focused on Sanji. 

The reindeer’s silent wish is everyone’s wish, they only want Sanji to be fine although they know, they know their Nakama well to figure out that this journey with Sanji as the protagonist won’t be like an arrow. 

Pairs of eyes are staring at the cook worriedly but had to look away when the swordsman sat down beside Chopper unhesitatingly.

Sanji is in good hands. They know but still worry about him. 

Zoro softly caressed Sanji’s hand, his tanned, calloused and covered in cuts covering Sanji’s bandaged hand. Only Sanji and Chopper know what happened to Sanji’s hands.

The bandages were dirty and contaminated with other dangerous materials that can damage Sanji’s hands. Chopper had no choice but to clean the wounds, treat them and then re-bandaged it. 

The swordsman wondered what his lover went through since the cook didn’t manage to tell them anything.

Not even a bit.

When the enemies dragged him out from their filthy ship, it was the first time everyone had seen him after he was taken away.

His mind silently played back the vision.

Sanji was covered in bruises, blood on his clothes, and the weird and suspicious bandaged hands. Everything happened in a flash. One slash and the slam to the ground.

How the boss mercilessly threw him with that senseless strength still brings Zoro’s blood boiling. 

Everyone had fought with the countless enemies to reach that filthy ship, those pitiful controlled bodies as if they were marionettes, the brainwashed villagers, and they dared to use children as well. 

The straw hats pirates were going around on _Nikani_ Island to reach that filthy ship and the enemy was playing with them by controlling a large number of people.

The filthy ship had gone around the island with the straw hats pointlessly chased after it only to have it stopped before their own Thousand Sunny.

Atrocious. 

They are wicked.

Those enemies screamed that the straw hats pirates won't understand what they went through. They were pirate hunters, they said, but it went downhill when they lost their members.

They had gotten tired of losing their sane members and one of them who had eaten _Kugutsu Kugutsu no Mi,_ the devil fruit that allows its user to control anything like a marionette, ended up killing the pirates and used their bodies to fight for him. 

One of them also has _Senno Senno no Mi_ the devil fruit with the power to mind-control their opponents.

Their boss with _Katai Katai no Mi made_ his body harden as hard as a diamond.

Three devil fruit users and a twin of swordsmen, only five from thousands that are sane with the rest of the members of the pirate hunters are controlled by the _Kugutsu Kugutsu no Mi_ ’s power.

Zoro and Luffy barely can hit the boss when the annoying subordinates keep controlling their own body. The straw hats were wounded, not badly, but enough to make them waste extra energy to stand up. 

They were laughing.

They were laughing at the straw hats struggling to save their _mere_ cook, they say. 

They were looking down at the efforts the straw hats put into saving their _useless black-legged_ member, they say. 

Luffy was quick enough to jump at the boss but not quick enough to evade the boss catching him and throwing him to _Kanika_ Island which placed beside _Nikani_ Island.

The same goes for Zoro, he had moved swiftly but didn’t manage to avoid the boss throwing him.

Zoro had regretted his actions for the reckless attitude. If he managed to stay calm for one minute, he could’ve finished them. 

Chopper could see the regret in Zoro’s eye, he placed his hoof on top of Zoro’s hand, “It’s okay Zoro, we need to move on, right?” 

The swordsman glanced at the doctor, he is right, they need to move on from the incident and figure out how to do _business_ with people who mess up with them. 

The moss-head’s lips turned into a small curl and he nodded, anyone who knows Zoro knows that small words like what Chopper said lifted the heavy thought on his mind a tiny bit. 

Even if it’s a little, it already helped.

Zoro’s hand went on top of Chopper’s head, patting the younger as he muttered a small thanks and a compliment for being helpful as his gratitude. The reindeer giggled with a flush on his cheeks, as usual, he doesn’t know what to do with a compliment.

After Chopper went away to eat food, Zoro’s focus went back to Sanji. The moss-head’s hand head towards Sanji’s hair, stroking the golden strands gently, “When you wake up, I’ll be here, cook.” he uttered the words quietly.

一

_Lights flickering, rushing to get into someone’s eyes who had woken up, the gun-metal eyes partially opened and met a slight shine of lights._

_Sanji woke up under a ceiling he never saw._

_After processing his situation for a good amount of short time, Sanji realized that he was not in Thousand Sunny._

_The pair of gun-metal eyes wandered around the room anxiously, he moved slightly for a better view but instead, his tied-to-the-back burned hands grazed against the floor; making the blond winced and grunted in silence to hold the pain._

_He cursed under his breath, for the pain and the fact he had let his guard down and ended up in this ridiculous situation. As a matter of fact, Sanji had his guard up, he knows it was a dangerous situation, he knows he can manage to win and escape from the kidnapper yet fate has another plan for him._

_Sanji bit his lower lip, his burned hands hurt, he wanted to drown himself in cold water 一 to ease the heat一 even a little bit, he would be grateful. But, with his hands and legs tied, a cloth wrapped around his mouth, he knows it won’t happen, be it in a few minutes or hours._

_He could have broken the rope, but for a reason or two, Sanji doesn’t have the strength to do so, is it because of the burn on his hands? Or the fact that his legs now feel numb, due to the merciless kicks or hit to his limbs, who knows? Sanji can only assume, as he was out of the cold until a few minutes ago._

_All the blond knows is that he is now alone, he can’t sense other presence in the room. Perfect timing to both plan how to escape and try the plan. The only light source in the room is a small light bulb that looks like it’s about to run out of power._

_His eyes led to a small window right above him, small, circle-shaped, and dirty. His body will not fit through that small window, eyes forward to the door just a few steps from Sanji. The door doesn’t have any window on it, around Sanji are barrels, probably supplies or something else._

_This is not the same room when his hands got burned._

_For what reason would they kindly move him to another room? The blond clicked his tongue behind the cloth, Sanji decided to push the thoughts, whatever reason it was, it’s not important._

_At the same time, Sanji got reminded of what the kidnappers say before he passed out, cutting his fingers, the panic in Sanji’s eyes immediately showed. He tried to move his fingers, trying to feel each finger on both hands, after assuring himself that his fingers are all 10 and complete he moved to untie the rope._

_Oh, how he wishes he could._

_The door in front of Sanji swung open, revealing silhouettes of something, tall, huge, with a weird movement it walked to Sanji. The blond is unsure whether it’s a man or not, it had hands that now are dragging Sanji out from the room roughly._

_Hands grazing against the wooden floor feels like it’s peeling more skin on his hands, not that there are left. Sanji kept his mouth closed, eyes opened to observe his surroundings, he’s on a ship, he can smell the faint scent of the sea._

_Before Sanji could observe other things properly he is now in a different room. There is a forge, is this the weapons room? There are no weapons, blades, Warhammer or armours. Just boxes of metal, in various shapes, and unfinished knives. Shackles and target boards on the wall caught Sanji’s attention, there are no dart arrows on either of the boards but nails and sharpened metal, or the unfinished knives as Sanji like to call it. Why do they need a shackle in a ship, to what? Torture someone?_

_Sanji’s train of thoughts is broken by a low, rough voice, “Stay,” It spoke. The thing or maybe a man, that dragged Sanji to this room, spoke. The blond didn’t have much choice. He couldn’t get up, or even run, this guy knows better than Sanji couldn’t move and that demand is unnecessary._

_Soon enough, a few people appeared, the people that Sanji do recognize._

_“Is the princess awake?” One of them spoke in a sing-song voice, disgusting, Sanji thought. “I said, is the princess awake?!” the person had just kicked Sanji in his guts and had him slammed against the wall. Sanji coughed, he was not supposed to fly that far, he did by what? A simple kick won’t do just that, haki, this guy used haki to kick him._  
 _  
_A low half-hearted laugh came from another, “Interesting, how can this weak blond guy be Roronoa Zoro’s significant other? Rumour says that he used kicks to fight but he couldn’t even take a kick. _”_

_“Lokna, Uwvu, enough with wasting your time, go on with the plan.” The two people that had been called looked terrified for a moment before going to Sanji, untied his hands but tied it back individually to the wall on target boards. The boss or the one Sanji assumed was the boss, looked amused as he took a knife and threw it right on Sanji’s hand._

_It hit right on the middle of Sanji’s hand, “It looks like it’s about to fall out, princess, let me help you with the knife,” the boss says, with his hand pressed against the knife he threw, piercing the knife through Sanji’s hand._

_The blond had his mouth bite into the cloth covering his mouth tightly, yet pained grunts escaped. He glared at the boss, it did not last long since the boss kicked him across his face, “I do not like that expression of yours, princess, you were being so good the last time we played with you, quiet, not even screaming, almost looks like you are dead.”_

_Had Sanji got his mouth uncovered, he would have spat at the boss, “Tell you what, every time you made a sound, I will give you a reward.”_

_Oh, what bullshit. The reward Sanji needed is to get untied and kick these stupid assholes, so Sanji shot another glare to the boss, fiercer and angrier. The glare, once again, caught the boss’s attention, without a warning the bigger figure kicked Sanji on his stomach._

_Time passed quickly as Sanji lost count of how many kicks that the boss has given to him, as it happens, two people that Sanji had assumed are Lokna and Uwvu shot nails and knives onto both his hands一pressed the metals to pierced it through Sanji’s hands一 the blond choked out a small muffled, “stop…”_

_The boss temporarily stopped before kicking Sanji across his face once again, “Who gives you the permission to speak?” The boss’s hand pressed against all nails and knives on Sanji’s left hand making blood gushed out even more._

_“Please stop, please,”_

_What went into Sanji’s mind? Was he that pathetic that he begged them to stop? Was he? No. It was not him wanting to get sympathy, nor empathy._

_Sanji couldn’t move, he couldn’t raise his legs to cover his stomach to not get kicked, he couldn’t turn around either, not that it would reduce the impact. He just doesn't want the kick to go straight to his stomach._

_He wanted to protect his unborn baby, although, at this point, Sanji is unsure if his baby is okay after all the kicks. With the amount of impact that was given, Sanji wanted to give up, the cloth covering his mouth came loose, his voice hoarse and choked, “Please,”_

_A mix of laughs echoed in the room, a twin, and a pair of swords on their backs. Sanji looked up at them, a hint of desperation in his eyes, he managed to get out another please stop before the two stabbed their swords on Sanji’s hands._

_“Did you hear him, boss? Beggin’? This man is supposed to have that high bounty eh?” A different voice added, “I didn’t know ‘Black Leg’ is this weak! Gahaha!”_

_The swords were taken out forcefully along with the knives and nails, “How is this for you princess? Better?”_

_Sanji was about to kick the boss on his face when he got a hold of his legs, from the expression on the boss' face, he was not amused. The grip on Sanji’s legs slowly became stronger and eventually, Sanji could feel his ankle dislocating after a loud crack rang in the room._

_Their boss untied Sanji’s hands only to slam him against the forge making the blond hit his head on the forge, hard. It was not just once, twice, thrice, and it goes until Sanji stopped screaming._

_“The scream was not enough… boys, hand me the metal.”_

_“No please don’t, please, plea-!” A scream cut Sanji’s own words as a hot metal was placed against his hand, there were no more tears left, the blond had repeatedly screamed at the enemies to stop._

_They enjoy it. The screams, the begging, and the desperate eyes pleading at them to stop._

_Another hot metal placed against Sanji’s other hand, he doesn’t know what is the point of him screaming anymore, his eyes feel heavy, feels like he’s about to pass out soon._

_The vision slowly blurred out, Sanji’s consciousness slowly drifting away then he couldn’t see anything but pitched black images._

一

Sanji had woken himself up in the middle of the night, his first thought goes to his own body, his hands, abdomen, and legs. He is fine. Sanji looked down to his hands, they are bandaged, and he is alive. There is no blood streaming down his arms, he can slightly move his legs and arms, he’s okay. 

Sanji’s second thought? Zoro.

Despite him hiding his relationship at his best in front of the public, he does care for the moss-head, everyone in the crew knew about that. Although, Sanji doesn’t know why and how these pathetic pirate hunters found out about his relationship with Zoro.

The blond let out a sigh, pushing the thought, once again, whatever way they did to find out, it’s not important. 

Sanji glanced to his side, he could feel his lips curling by a tiny bit, Zoro is sitting right beside him cross-legged with his back straight and arms crossed. The blond had moved his arm slightly to hold a part of Zoro’s clothes, instead of that, Zoro had woken up and the worry in Zoro’s eyes was too obvious.

There are no sentences voiced out between them, it’s just Zoro and Sanji, communicating with their eyes. As if they knew exactly what the other needed Zoro scooted closer to Sanji and held Sanji’s hand, caressing it gently. The blond moved close enough to Zoro, just taking in the other’s warmth in silence.

Sanji thought that he would be fine as long as he was with Zoro, he was wrong, the nightmare had crept into his mind once more, reminding him of what the pirate hunters had done to his hands. 

His hands trembled uncontrollably and his breath got heavy each time he exhaled. Sanji doesn’t realize that his left hand is now digging into his clothes, tightly. Without any orders, the blond was lifted carefully and is now sitting between Zoro’s legs. 

Head close to Zoro’s chest and both arms held gently by Zoro. “Breathe slowly… and exhale. I’m here, cook. I’m here. Breathe slowly and exhale once more,” rough and deep but calm toned voice uttered slowly into Sanji’s ears.

“I’m here, you’re with me,” like magic words, it slowly eases out Sanji’s mind, it calmed him down bit by bit. The voice continues but it sounds like a whisper this time, “I’ll be always here, cook. I would take an arrow on my knee for you.” 

There it is, a random cheesy and corny Roronoa Zoro. It’s not like Sanji hated it, he likes it, this man who usually only thinks about fighting, sake and sleep out of nowhere says cringe-worthy sentences. Sometimes Sanji wonders if Zoro had got it from Mihawk… or a more possible candidate, Perona. 

The blond replied, “Is that a reference that you would want to marry me or something?” the moss-head, not missing a beat, “That is not what I mean but if you would like to, then be it.” Well, not the reply Sanji had expected, that got blood runs to his cheeks, “Stupid marimo.” 

Another silence surrounded them.

Not a complete silence as the sound of waves crashing into rocks, and leaves rustling against each other can be heard.

Zoro’s voice broke the silence, “The others and I had talked about Chopper performing emergency surgery on you. For your abdomen, the slash wound is pretty bad as it wasn’t treated properly for days. He told me to tell you about it, is this okay with you?” he asked as he made eye contact with his lover.

“If the doctor says so then it will be like that,” Sanji replies, still maintaining eye contact with Zoro.

The other sighed and moved his hand to run it through the blond’s hair, “As soon as possible, when the sun is up, the surgery will be held. You are not allowed to eat nor drink until the surgery begins.”

“I know how the surgery works, moss-head, no thanks for you,” 

“What was that, perverted-cook?!”

A chuckle left Sanji’s lips, “You know what, I will not repeat what I said to a dumb marimo.” Of course, it had annoyed the green-haired swordsman, he did not reply but his face turned into a stern look which made Sanji even more amused.

That’s how they spent their time, giving petty insults to each other, random talks, or an out of nowhere silence eye staring battle. 

A few hours had passed when the sun slowly started to show itself.

The pair of lovers were lost in their small talk that they didn't notice a ship coming. That is until Franky yelled and pointed at the ship, “It’s Thousand Sunny!!” which ended up waking up everyone.

Zoro looked at where Franky pointed at, the ship had come close enough to recognize that it was indeed their ship, Thousand Sunny. Who was on the ship though? Zoro squinted his eye and roughly saw Jinbei’s silhouette.

The ship stopped right where they are camping at and there he goes, Jinbei, “The ship is damaged and nice to see you guys, it’s been a while.” Luffy extended his arms and wrapped it around Jinbei excitedly and Franky along with Usopp pulled out their tools to fix the ship, “No worries, you have us here!” they said as they immediately started to fix Thousand Sunny.

Jinbei with Luffy still on his back walked towards the ship to help fix it after greeting the others for a bit.

Chopper toddles to Zoro and Sanji before plopping himself down beside Zoro, “Zoro, have you told Sanji about the surgery?” the moss-head replied with a nod, the reindeer continued, “Can you move Sanji to the sickbay? I’ll be there with Robin after I finish packing up my things!” 

Without getting orders twice, Zoro had carried Sanji as gently as possible, which resulted in Sanji muttering, “Being gentle is not your style, you know that?” Zoro snorted in response, “Luffy and Nami would kill me if I drag you instead, you moron.” 

“It’s not like you hate this kind of treatment, right? You seemed to be more relaxed.” 

“Rough is my style but being treated gently sometimes is not bad, and you are naturally good at it.” 

Zoro placed Sanji on the bed in the sickbay, “I don’t think I would be allowed to be inside here during surgery but I will be outside.” 

The green-haired swordsman was about to leave when he felt a tug on his clothes, Sanji looked at him as if telling him to stay until Chopper is here. And Zoro stayed, he sat on the side of the bed, holding the blond’s hand. Sometimes he would utter reassuring sentences for Sanji. 

When both Chopper and Robin arrived, Zoro was told to go outside, he leaned on the wall right beside the door due to Robin covering the window一 making sure no one peeked into the room during the surgery. 

Zoro sighed deeply, muttering lowly under his breath, “I’m sorry cook, I couldn’t tell you this surgery would be the same surgery to check on Jjom. If the possibility of Jjom being alive is good, Chopper said he would do something to make sure Jjom is safe throughout the pregnancy but if not… this would be our goodbye with Jjom.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> big thank you for yuzu, my kouhai, who helped me while i write this chapter!
> 
> and, how was it guys?! is it too long? i wanted to separate it to two chapters but my guts telling me to just go and make them as one hehe >w<
> 
> don't forget to leave kind comments and lovely feedback, it will help me so much in developing this story!

**Author's Note:**

> kindly leave me your thoughts about the story and oh- have you pressed the kudos button?


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